Close to the flame
by Lilja Rainheart
Summary: For as long as Fili remembered, his brother had always been with him. Any memories from before Kili's birth apparently hadn't been important enough to keep in memory. Since then the brothers had never been apart, not even for a day. Fili/Kili (and therefore sibling incest; don't like, don't read).


Disclaimer: I don't own The Hobbit or any of the characters.

Comments: I just had this collection of scenes in my head that I needed to write down. Text in italics are flashbacks.

* * *

**Close to the flame**

For as long as Fili remembered, his brother had always been with him. Any memories from before Kili's birth apparently hadn't been important enough to keep in memory. Since then the brothers had never been apart, not even for a day. Where Fili was, Kili wasn't far and if one brother got in trouble, the other was either part of the mischief or tried to bail him out afterwards.

So it was a given that when Thorin Oakenshield had asked Fili to join his company on the quest for Erebor, Kili requested to come along as well. Thorin only hesitated for a moment, contemplating his younger nephew's recklessness and his knack for getting himself in trouble, before he had simply nodded and with that, everything had been agreed.

But although both brothers had been trained to be warriors since they were children, Fili had to admit that no training could have prepared them for what it was really like, being out in the wild night after night. It was cold, it was uncomfortable and they never got as much sleep as they would have needed.

Adventure or not, sometimes Fili missed the warm bed by the fireplace back home in his mother's house. The only consolation in these nights was having Kili snuggled closely against himself while they slept, giving him some of the warmth that he missed. They had always slept like that, always sharing a bed since they were but little dwarflings and it never changed as they got older. Not even now that they were almost adults, especially not now.

_Fili and Kili are tangled around each other while they sleep contently. When Kili was born, Dís told her older son that he was a big brother now and had to look after his little brother. Fili takes that responsibility seriously, almost never letting Kili out of sight. At night, Fili holds his little brother in a protective embrace while Kili's fingers play with a strand of Fili's hair in his sleep._

* * *

As they grew older, Fili had noticed that most other dwarves thought their relationship was too close, even for brothers. Until then, he hadn't given it a thought, but noticing their looks and the whispers had confused him. Once he had voiced his concern over that to Kili who had simply shrugged it off. "Let them think what they want, it's none of their business, is it?" he had said and then pulled his brother forward to peck his lips and then grin at him. Fili hadn't brought it up again, but it continued to bother him.

_"Mother… why do some people say that Kili and I are weird for being so close?" Fili asks his mother one day when they're alone in the kitchen. _

_Dís sighs and turns around to look at her son. "Listen Fili," she says, "there will always be people who think you're wrong, no matter what you do. I won't tell you what is right or wrong concerning this matter. Even though I am your mother, you're old enough to decide about these things yourself now. I have only one advice to give to you: Some things are private and should better be kept private. Do you understand?"_

_"I… think so." Fili nods slowly._

Dís had never spoken up about the matter after that, although Fili vaguely remembered overhearing an argument between her and Thorin in which she had fiercely defended her sons (Fili recalled his mother all but shouting 'I don't care if the Durin line dies with us, I just want my sons to be happy!') and after which she refused to talk to her brother for a total of two weeks for daring to interfere with her parenting.

But after that incident it seemed like an unspoken agreement for Thorin to quietly tolerate the nature of his nephews' relationship. He never spoke up about it, never even gave them a look that would have given away what he thought.

* * *

"Your hair is a mess," Kili stated one night as they're sitting by the fire, leaning back against a tree and keeping watch while everyone else was already asleep. He teasingly tugged at one of Fili's dishevelled braids. Fili chuckled quietly. "I doubt anyone really cares. But if it annoys you so much, fix it?" he suggested.

Kili nodded and set to work, starting to unravel the braids in his brother's blond hair and combing through it with his fingers before carefully re-braiding it, showing a patience with it that he never had with any other task.

When they were children, their mother used to braid Fili's hair until one day, little Kili demanded to take over.

_"Mummy!" A four year old Kili climbs up on his mother's lap and looks at her with an expression far too serious for such a cute little face. "I wanna bwaid Fili's hair… show me!" he demands and he looks so determined that Dís cannot help but smile. _

_"Alright then," she says and proceeds to teach her younger one how to braid hair, amused how the little boy who can never sit still watches in rapt fascination and then tries himself, his tongue poking out between his lips while he concentrates. Fili just sits there patiently, not moving and not complaining, although Kili's hands are clumsy, harshly tugging at his sibling's hair more than once. When he's done, the braids are uneven and messy, but Kili is so proud of his work and Fili is proud of Kili, so the hair has to stay like that. _

After that day, no one but Kili was ever allowed to touch Fili's hair.

* * *

"Why do we always have to look after the ponies?" Kili complained and picked up a small rock from the ground, throwing it into the darkness of the forest. "Because someone has to do it, I guess?" Fili suggested, shrugging his shoulders. He had more patience with mundane tasks like this than his brother, they have to be done after all.

"But it's so boring…" Kili continued, "And it's cold. And I'm hungry. Besides, it's not like anyone would steal a fucking pony?!" The younger dwarf huffed.

"I know," Fili agreed, pulling his brother close and nuzzling his cheek affectionately, "I can't magically conjure up food… but there's something I can do against the boredom and the cold." He smirked at Kili who mirrored the expression. "You've got my attention."

"Hmmm…" Fili hummed, "I better have." He put his hand in Kili's neck, pulling him close and initiating a slow kiss that the younger one eagerly returned.

"This hasn't happened in far too long," Kili whispered against Fili's lips when they broke apart for air. "Happier now that we have to be ponysitting?" Fili asked and grinned. "Oh yes, definitely," his brother replied, moving close for another heated kiss.

"What if someone comes?" Fili mumbled in between kisses. "We'll hear that. Now stop talking." Kili nibbled on Fili's neck, drawing a low moan from his older brother.

"We should stop…" Fili said after a while. "But why… it's only just getting good." Kili actually pouted and Fili smiled at him. "I don't know if I can hold myself back if we continue. And this isn't really the place for it. But… I promise I'll make up for it the next time we have a roof over our heads for the night."

Fili kissed Kili softly one more time before he moved to get up. "Fine," Kili sighed, "I'll take you up on that!" Fili chuckled. "Sure… I'll check on the ponies." Kili nodded.

"Uhm… Kili, would you come here for a second?" Fili called only moments later. Kili got up and joined his brother at the small clearing where they kept the ponies for the night. "What is it?" he inquired.

Fili stared at the ponies. "How many ponies do you count?" Kili seemed confused, but did what his brother had asked him. His eyes widened suddenly. "… fourteen," he said. "Right," Fili agreed.

Kili groaned. "Fuck, we're in trouble."


End file.
